Beergaritas Recipe: The Ultimate Summer 2014 Drink

What’s a better way to cool off in the summer than the perfect summer drink? It’s bone chilling cold, sweet, light, and fresh…with just enough alcohol to make your day complete. Beergaritas are more than what you’ve seen Snooki enjoy on Jersey Shore. A margarita with two Coronas stuffed in the top just doesn’t taste as good as an official beergarita.

When I think about the perfect summer drink, I think about a bunch of enthusiastic people hanging out at their friend’s house drinking and having a great time. Everyone loves this summer beverage and has their glasses filled with it. It’s not too girly, but not too burly either. It’s a great mix of sweet yet tangy and it cools you off without filling you up. Light and chill with hints of bright fruits like oranges, lemons, and limes. It’s multi-faceted as well. It can travel from the backyard BBQ to the pool to the beach to the bar to a night out. It’s not just for bachelorette festivities or frat parties. The perfect summer drink fits any summer occasion.

Sticky fingers when you’re hanging out by the pool trying to change the song on Pandora are just a huge pain. Lots of summer drinks that are alcohol mixed with sugar water lead to headaches and stomachaches and ruin the entire point of having a cool drink while you’re tanning or hanging out with friends at a party. The perfect summer drink doesn’t have you praying to the porcelain god after just one and it doesn’t make you feel like cutting the party short. The perfect summer drink cools you down without weighing you down. This recipe for beergaritas is perfect whether its in pitchers or pints.

I’ve had a few beergaritas before but they didn’t even come close to this recipe. I really enjoyed that the beer and hard alcohol were mixed and not just sitting on top of one another. It wasn’t too sweet and it didn’t taste extra sour either. When I have a mixed drink, if it’s too sugary, I just end up feeling sick to my stomach. The perfect summer drink doesn’t have to be full of tons of sugar just to taste good. Although this drink does have a bunch of sugar, it doesn’t make you feel like you’re getting diabetes after the first few sips.

This beergaritas recipe is easily upped if you’re going to a large gathering or halved if you want to make just one for your afternoon with a good book. You can add lemons, limes, or oranges if you choose and you can switch up the ingredients slightly if you want something a little different. However, when it comes to the beer, always choose a light beer.

I like to use Coors Light, but if you use a heavy beer or a summer ale instead, after a few sips you may be feeling full or sick. Plus, using a beer like Coors Light that has little flavor on it’s own allows the other flavors to mix better and become highlighted. If there’s too much beer flavor mixed with the tequila and triple sec flavors, the entire palette is thrown off. Light beers like Coors Light, Miller Light, and Bud Light are much for this particular recipe.

And when you’re thinking about a summer drink, picking a fuller-flavored or heavy beer defeats the light and airy feel. It’s already hot outside so why not pick a beer that doesn’t weigh on your stomach or temperature. The more full you are, the more uncomfortable it’ll be out in the hot sun. Light beers are the way to go when you’re mixing hard alcohol and beer to get a great tasting drink.

I also found that this recipe has a coconutty aftertaste and by adding a few shavings of coconut you can really enhance that flavor. I wouldn’t recommend going crazy with the coconut since the resounding flavor is lime but if you’re bored of one type of beergarita, experiment with the coconut. You can also try to add more lime or lemon juice or experiment with different light beers. This drink is very versatile so adding different varieties could lead to your new favorite drink.

Some of the recipes I came across called for sweetened lime juice but this just adds more sugar. By using just plain lime juice instead, there was extra lime flavor but it didn’t make me crave water to wash it down. Additionally, you don’t have to wait for the limeade concentrate to melt completely. This recipe works a lot better and chills quicker when you use partially frozen limeade concentrate. It allows you to enjoy the drink sooner and adds a little more slushie-like flavor without the blender and extra watery flavor from the ice.

You can mix these beergaritas in a blender if you’d rather have a frozen slushie drink. I don’t think the flavors are as good when you mix all the extra ice in but it’s still something to keep you cool during the scorching summer. I used crushed ice instead of cubes as well and filled up the glass about halfway. I liked how it cooled the drink quickly and it was sort of like a slushie but didn’t ruin the flavor.

Beergaritas are customizable, which makes them the perfect drink for summer. Their airy, non-sugary flavors brighten up even a sticky summer day and you can switch between slushie and cold drink. Switch up summer flavors like lemon, lime, coconut, and orange and different light beers for fun and exciting new beergarita flavors.

I am in deep-fried love with food and travel. With Italian roots, I have a weakness for bread, marinara, and mozzarella. I’ll try anything once and am constantly searching for intriguing places to visit. When I'm not savoring the last bite or organizing my next trip, I'm indulging my inner bookworm and writing about my adventures. If you turn on college football and give me a local craft beer, you’ll see the happiest Hokie on the West coast.